


Left Behind

by pudding_bretzel



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dragons, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Bad Ending, Child Death, Execution, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, I'm Sorry, One Shot, POV Jason Todd, Pain, Sad, Survivor Guilt, The Batfam are Dragons, Tragedy, Whump, except Alfred, i made myself cry writing this, it's not shown but you bet it's there, mostly - Freeform, pain everywhere, the emotional kind
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-01-21 08:10:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21296285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pudding_bretzel/pseuds/pudding_bretzel
Summary: “Master Jason!” Alfred’s voice echoes through the halls, reaching Jason’s ears and piercing his heart as he hears the man’s voice crack on his name. Because Jason isn’t the only one who’s lost everything in the span of a few hours. But he’ll bring them back. He has to. If he fails–  He doesn’t dare finish the thought.Or: In a time where dragons are feared and hunted a cruel twist of fate brings the Wayne family to their knees.
Relationships: Jason Todd & Alfred Pennyworth, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd & Dick Grayson & Tim Drake & Damian Wayne
Comments: 20
Kudos: 104





	Left Behind

**Author's Note:**

> This is pure pain so be prepared for some feels. That being said, enjoy!  
I'll be waiting for you at the end with some hot cocoa and a blanket so we can cry together.

Finally, after weeks of travel Jason made it back home. 

One year. It’s been almost one year since he last saw his family. Who’d have thought he’d ever look forward to one of Dickie’s annoying hugs? He most certainly didn’t, that’s for sure, but after months and months of endless training, meditating, lectures from his masters and traveling the country, he can’t wait to see his family again. 

He missed a whole year of his family’s bickering and laughter and just being with them. He never thought he would miss them so much but traveling to the other side of the country can do that to one. 

The letters they’d sent back and forth had been a small relief to his longing for home. Jason had always wanted to travel and see more of the world, but now, after this? He wouldn’t want to trade it for the time he could have with his family instead.

Of course, he’d never out right tell them how much he missed them. He tried to hold himself back in his letters, only telling them he was looking forward to seeing them again, but nothing more than that. They knew how much he cared for them, even without him having to tell them, surely.

Travelling on horseback for almost two weeks was pure torture and Jason had hated every second of it. Now that he is finally able to use his second skin without fear as well makes it even worse. He wants to fly through the sky, like he learned to love and feel the wind on his scales. 

One year ago, he hadn’t lost a single thought on the possibility of being a dragon with his apparent human ancestry – which, looking back now, must obviously be a mistake, right? But now? Now he can barely stop himself from shifting on the spot.

His first transformation had been scary, full of pain and fear and confusion and all in all had been an entire mess. He’d been close to death, after one of their missions had gone awry. By the time Bruce and Dick found him he was already halfway through the shifting process, mind lost to the pain. It took the both of them leading him into the deserted mountains and calming him to make him turn back again.

But by that time almost half the citizens had already seen the dragons in the sky. Chaos had erupted in the city, fear of the dragons and the possible doom they would bring unto the city and the land. Questions and rumors on why they’d attacked the city spread throughout the alleys and streets. No one considered even for a second that two of the dragons had saved them. They’d only seen Jason and the damage he’d done in his uncontrolled and panicked state.

With Jason as instable as he’d been after his first shifting Bruce had sent him away. ‘_Only until the situation has calmed down and you know how to handle your new body_,’ Bruce had said, but all Jason heard was, ‘_I’m sending you away because you’re too dangerous_.’ 

Now, after his training though, he knows better. He knows Bruce was right in his decision to send him away. There’s no more fear now when he thinks about his second skin or the loss of control he had back then.

There’s no jealousy when he thinks of his brothers or of them talking about how freeing it is to feel the wind rushing over their scales.

Because now he knows the feeling first-hand. And it’s the best thing he’s ever felt.

He hopes the situation has calmed down by now. It’s been almost a year so he can only hope. In his letters Bruce reassured him that the townsfolk have calmed down in the past few months with no more sightings of any dragons. And with Jason’s training coming to an end he could finally return back home. 

The moment he reaches the manor’s front gates though, Jason knows something is wrong. 

The gates are forced open, scorch marks on the metal railings and stonewall.

_Magic_, his mind supplies as he feels the telltale thrum of it in the air, his hairs standing on end at the sensation and his heart begins to race in his chest. He spurs the horse forward in a gallop, riding up the hill towards the manor as fast as he can manage. 

His heart is thumbing against his ribcage as the building comes into view and he sees the smoke rising from his home. Before the stallion has the chance to slow down and come to a halt, Jason jumps from its back and races into the building, fear clinging to his every breath, making his feet feel heavy like lead. 

“Bruce!” His scream echoes in the entrance hall, his own voice the only answer he receives from the too silent building. He can’t see any fire or imminent danger, but there’s not a shroud of doubt that something awful happened here. 

There’re no answers as he calls for his father, his brothers or Alfred. Anyone, just anyone to tell him what’s going on and where everyone is.

But the manor is empty. There’s not a single soul to tell him what happened. He only has the destruction around him to tell him. Every single room is destroyed, furniture lies broken in pieces on the floors, littering the tattered carpets. 

Jason’s knees wobble and he almost gives in to the urge to break down, lose all his composure and scream the pain out into the open for everyone else to hear, when his head snaps back up.

There’s one room he forgot to check. One last flicker of hope.

He races back down the hallway into Bruce’s bedroom, jumping over the broken in door on the floor. On the other side of the room the bookshelf he’s looking for is still standing, concealing the safe room he forgot in all his fear and panic. He reaches for the key – one of the smaller books – and pulls it halfway off the shelf. The telltale click resounds and he pushes the shelf to the side, revealing a small two by two square room. 

Jason rushes forward as his eyes find Alfred sprawled out on the floor and unconscious. The old man releases a pained breath as Jason gathers him in his arms and he thanks every deity in the sky that the man isn’t dead. Only thanks to his training and due to Alfred’s low weight is he able to lift the butler up and carefully place him onto the remains of Bruce’s bed.

A quick survey of the older man’s injuries elicits a relieved breath from Jason. Apart from some minor injuries here and there, the man seems to be fine.

Jason softly jostles his shoulder, trying to rouse him from his unconscious state and hopefully get some answers.

“Alfie,” he says, his voice reaching a level of pleading he never thought he’d have to direct towards the older man. “Please, wake up.”

His vision is blurred by tears, when Alfred suddenly begins to stir, his eyes blinking open slowly and sluggishly. 

“Alfred!” Jason exclaims and barely holds himself back from crushing the man in a hug.

“Master Jason,” Alfred mumbles and the wobbling of his voice makes the worry in Jason resurface. When the man tries to sit up, Jason pushes him back down and he can’t help but feel a pang of familiarity at the scene. Only normally it’s the other way around, with Jason lying down and Alfred trying to get him to rest. 

“Stay down,” Jason says, keeping his hand on the butler’s chest and feeling the steady beat of his heart below. He can hear the organ pumping blood through Alfred’s body with his new heightened senses as well but feeling it beneath his own hand gives him another much needed level of security.

“What happened?” he asks, unable to wait for Alfred to catch his bearings, “Where are the others?”

He needs to know what happened to his family.

For a moment Alfred’s features mirror Jason’s confusion, but then the fog is starting to lift. His face seems to crumble with the pain and fear the memories bring with them and Alfred reaches for Jason’s hand. He quickly takes it in both of his, squeezing it tightly, reminding the man that he’s here, that he’s _real_.

“What happened?” He repeats, dreading the answer at the same time as he needs it. Needs it like he needs the air to breathe.

“The citizens,” Alfred began, “They- they came sometime during the night. We didn’t hear them coming. I don’t know how, but Master Bruce and the others, they were completely overwhelmed.”

He closes his eyes as he takes a moment to breathe again and then continues. “They took them, Master Jason,” he whispers and for the first time in his few years living with him, Jason witnesses the butler losing control. There’s a sadness and panic in the older man’s eyes that makes it impossible to not see how he’s barely hanging on.

By the time Alfred finishes, Jason sees red, hatred and fury mixing with his pain and the fear for his family. 

Before any more time is lost, Jason quickly stands, releasing Alfred’s hand and racing from the room. It pains him to leave the man behind, but he doesn’t have any choice. Alfred will be fine for a few hours. He has to be.

“Master Jason!” Alfred’s voice echoes through the halls, reaching Jason’s ears and piercing his heart as he hears the man’s voice crack on his name. Because Jason isn’t the only one who’s lost everything in the span of a few hours. 

But he’ll bring them back. He has to. If he fails– He doesn’t dare finish the thought.

It’s not too late yet. It can’t be. It’s only been a few hours. Surely, they’re still alive. Or they’ve freed themselves already. Bruce will protect them. He won’t let anything happen to his sons Jason knows. Not if he can do something to prevent it. 

The stallion is still waiting for him at the front door and Jason mounts it, spurring it on towards the city. They run on top speed, but it still feels to slow for Jason. He wants to just shift and fly there, rescue his family and hold them as close as possible, held in the arms he’d missed for so long. 

Hear the voice’s he hasn’t heard in over a year. 

But he can’t. It’s too risky. For all he knows, he could make things worse by turning up as a dragon.

Instead of listening to his instincts, he spurs the horse to go faster and faster until he fears it might just throw him off and run away without him.

When they reach the city gates, Jason can already hear them. The demands for justice. The profanities yelled into the afternoon sky. 

The streets are empty. Not a single soul can be seen. But Jason can hear where everyone is gathered, where they’re all screaming for things they don’t even understand. 

The giant plaza in the center of the city comes into view and Jason’s heart freezes in his chest. A choked sob escapes his throat as he recognizes the four faces on the platform in the middle of the crowd.

They’re dozens of feet away from him, but thanks to his second skin he can see the tears rolling down his brothers faces. He can see Dickie trying to calm a sobbing Damian down. He can see Tim standing next to them, eyes closed and chest heaving with heavy breaths. He can see Bruce, stony face turned towards the cheering crowd. And behind his family Jason can see the reason for their distress. For behind each of them stands an executioner, sword in hand and ready to act on the judge’s command.

Jason made it just in time. In time to watch his family be killed. To watch as everything he loves is ripped away from him.

His body moves on its own, his feet hitting the ground and running towards his family. He squeezes through the crowd, screaming their names, hoping for… He doesn’t even know for what. A miracle?

But that’s when he remembers. He isn’t the useless human he thought himself to be for most of his life. He can save them. He only has to–

He stops dead in his tracks when his eyes meet equally blue ones filled with just as much sorrow as his own. 

Bruce’s face turns from stone cold fury to one of longing and anguish at the same time as his eyes meet Jason’s. Seeing so much emotion in his father's normally stoic face is alarming and Jason knows he should cherish the moment, but all he can feel is the ground opening up beneath his feet as he feels his heart plummeting down, down, down.

Because Bruce is looking at him and he’s shaking his head. The movement is almost imperceptible and Jason only catches it thanks to his enhanced eyesight but he wishes he didn’t see it at all, because Bruce is telling him to let this happen. To not do anything.

“No!” Jason screams at him with a broken voice. He knows Bruce can hear him by the minuscule twitch of his brows. By the downturn of his lips as he keeps himself from showing any more emotion. 

Jason searches for his brother’s eyes, hoping to find confirmation there. To find someone telling him that yes, he can safe them, he can do something against this. But when he looks at Dick, all he can see is the same look Bruce has given him.

And that’s when it occurs to Jason that maybe they have a plan. After all, they’re dragons. There’s no way they would just sit around and let this happen without fighting for their lives. That wouldn’t be his family’s way. It wouldn’t be Bruce's way. He won’t just let himself and his family be slaughtered by the very people he protects. 

But before the hope can settle and make itself at home, he senses the tingling sensation that he’d felt back at the manor, at the gates.

Magic. 

That’s how they were caught. The magicians must’ve concealed the attackers until it was to late. They bound Bruce and the others, keeping them from defending themselves. And they would do the same to Jason if he intervened. 

They’re bound. They can’t shift or do anything. They don’t have a plan and Jason can’t do a goddamn thing without dying with them.

They’re about to die and all he can do is wish he was up there with them. Because this is his fault, isn't it? If he hadn't turned back then, none of this would happen. His family wouldn't be up there right now if he hadn't fucked it all up.

Damian and Tim are only children. How can these monsters justify killing children? Just because they’re scared. Scared of something they know next to nothing about and do the only thing they think will protect them.

His heart feels like it’s splitting in two as he watches onward. He keeps his eyes locked to Bruce’s grounding himself in the man’s strong gaze tears streaming down his face. Heaving breaths leave his chest and he can barely stay upright. 

This will be the last time he can look at them and feel the security Bruce always radiated. He’ll never have that ever again. There won't be anymore hugs from Dick, no more bickering between Tim and Damian. 

Nothing.

He shakes his head, pleading Bruce to do something. He’s his dad. He’s supposed to make everything alright.

But all Bruce does in return is to open his mouth and speak in a soft voice that has no place in the here and now. Because it’s full of love and longing and reminds him of their happier times together.

He whispers, only loud enough for his sons to hear, “I’m so sorry.”

With that, the executioners all lift their blades simultaneously and Jason squeezes his eyes shut. He can’t watch this. He just can’t. The heels of his hands press into his temples as he clutches his hair, pulling and pulling because this isn’t _fair_.

_Why us?_

He screams all the unfairness and pain out into the open while the plaza erupts in cheers around him. The four heartbeats at the center of it all stop at the same moment and his world falls apart in a fiery pit of pain.

**Author's Note:**

> *handing out fuffy blankets* Here you go, let's cry together.


End file.
